Ben's <$1000 solar hot water system

[bennelson]

I do have a couple of pretty wet spots in my yard, including a spring in the front yard. I HAVE considered some sort of ground heat pump in my long-term master plan.

I could do a concrete pad. It's just that it gets more expensive. More time, more work. I'd like to make this as simple as I can, and more importantly, NOT need a jackhammer for when I screw up!

I did get some more work done today.

To start with, I checked the holes for water. It's been rainy/wet/cold for the last few days. most of the holes were about 28" from ground level to water line. My foot is in the photo for scale.



I remembered that I had some gravel in a couple of 5-gal buckets in the backyard, so I dumped that down the holes until it was 27" from ground to the gravel fill. That was still underwater, as the water simply went UP as I added gravel. I'll check later and see how it drains. It's pretty much all clay right there, so I'm not sure how long it will take. I'm hoping that if we don't get any more rain, the water level in the holes will drop and expose the gravel. If so, I think everything is fine, and I can set posts right down to gravel level.

I kept chipping away at the hole through the foundation. My idea is to have a pipe go right through the cinder block wall, and then get cemented in place. Then I will have a nice tube to slide the solar plumbing through, along with any other wires, etc. If I ever need to add or remove anything in the future, I already have a smooth tube to feed through. If I even need to decommission the system, I can just put a pipe cap on either end.



I originally hoped to punch through the hollow spot on one side of the cinder block. Turns out the hollow is less than 3" wide, once you figure in the curve of the cement and all.

I figured I would either need to go with a much smaller pipe, but that wouldn't fit all I wanted through it. Maybe TWO smaller pipes? But that didn't leave much room for flexibility or expansion.

So, I kept chipping away to make the hole big enough for a 4" pipe. Once I dug away enough dirt to get the hammer drill deep enough from the outside, it went pretty well. I also found out that it's not worth trying to make round holes in cinder blocks. Everything about them is rectangular. Just make a rectangular hole.

Some hand-hammering with chisels and a long steel rod got me the hole big enough for the pipe.



That's WAY too much pipe sticking out there, but the store sells it in 10' sections, so that's what I got.



I also thought I should slope the pipe slightly downhill, away from the house, so if there ever is a leak or rainwater getting in there, it doesn't run straight into my crawlspace. On the other hand, where would it drain to? I'll still need to put an angled pipe adapter on the end of this to angle up, out of the ground to the solar panel. I thought maybe something going up, then curving to back down to keep water out? I could have a pipe cap on the end of the 4" pipe with two holes drilled in it for the to and from solar and then caulk them in there real good.

Also, the fancy pipe insulation was on sale right now (but only for another day or two) for 25% off, so I bought 60' of it.



I think my next step here is to figure out how long I want the 4" PVC, cut it to that length, and then cement it in to the foundation. I'll also want to fill the exposed cavities in the concrete block. Anyone think I should maybe fill it with Great Stuff, or otherwise insulate it?

I really haven't done any cement work before. I just want to fill in around the pipe, so there is no gap around it. I want that pipe to be in there nice and solid, and it to look like a wall again! It doesn't have to be perfect. The part inside the crawlspace, nobody is ever going to see. The part outside should mostly be covered with dirt when I'm all done. Still I want to do a good job. Any advice on working to patch with cement is welcome!